Don Hale Blog

THE UK ENERGY CRISIS: DON’T BLAME IT ALL ON THE UKRAINE SITUATION. Special feature by John Hatton (*pictured right).   The UK is now in an extremely serious energy crisis, but as the title states it’s not all down to the Ukraine situation.  Successive Governments over the last 50 plus years, have let down the British public, as every aspect of life in this modern world is ENERGY based.   The UK was the first country in the world to have an operational commercial nuclear power station generating electricity back in 1956.  A few additional nuclear power stations were then built, but as these were coming towards the end of their life, no plans were ever introduced to replace them. These Governments have all failed miserably ever since to plan-ahead regarding a situation to secure new energy requirements for a growing population.   This is due to no strategic long-term planning and is the main reason we are now in this current situation. The Government is currently in panic mode regarding

*NWRRC Christmas handicap race winner Nicola Wylie (*above), and (*below) club members pictured before the start of the race. Nicola wins Road Runners Christmas handicap race in freezing conditions on the Great Orme. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Don Hale, Mike Smith, and Kevin Slattery.   Nicola Wylie was the worthy winner of the North Wales Road Runners’ Christmas handicap race last Sunday as twenty-one fellow club members braved freezing conditions and a bitterly cold headwind to compete over a tough and hilly course. With all the start and finishing times adjusted to consider the age and ability of entrants in conjunction with noting recent parkrun performances, the runners then had to tackle a very challenging route from West Shore to the former WW2 gun sites on the Great Orme and back. The race proved to be a close-run event and  Nicola  ran with an unintentional pace-maker  Cheryl Frost , who was recovering from a fall and simply took part as a non-counting athlete.  *Nicola Wyl

TELFORD 10K - exclusive match report courtesy of NW road race team manager Paul Brooks from NWRAC. So, the final opportunity for the North Wales road running athletes to represent the Region was on 11th December, at the Telford 10km. This race is advertised as England’s fastest and has a justifiable reputation for not only having a fast, traffic-free course but a field of exceptionally quick athletes.  However, a mixture of injuries and unavailability (including four withdrawals in the week before the race) meant two men, Andy Bromley and Nick Brook , were co-opted into the men’s team literally hours before the start. The day was cold, with temperatures hovering around zero and just below, but the course had been gritted both the day before and in places on the morning of the race, so was declared safe to go ahead. However, it started to snow during wave one and turned into a heavy downfall as the morning progressed, gradually stopping towards the end of wave three. To illustrate the

  TOP NORTH WALES RANKINGS AFTER TELFORD 10K. Special report by Paul Brooks (*Pictured below).   Congratulations to  Tom Wood  (Eryri/Oxford Uni), who is now ranked #6 in the NWRAC all-time 10km lists and #5 in the senior men's lists for his 30:12 at the Telford 10km last weekend. He also has a 14:40 5km which ranks him #7 in the all-time list and #5= in the senor men's lists.  Here's the top 10 all-time 10km NWRAC men's list up to and including yesterday: 1 Charlie Hulson Liverpool Telford 2018 00:29:12 SM 2  Andrew Davies  Stockport Valencia 2022 00:29:39 M40  3  Rob Samuel  Eryri Chepstow 2021 00:29:46 M35  4 Ian Pierce Tipton Cardiff 1999 00:29:50 SM  5  David Mountford  Deeside Manchester 2012 00:30:03 SM  6  Tom Wood  Eryri Telford 2022 00:30:12 SM  7  Russell Bentley  Black' & B Derby 2012 00:30:14 SM  8 Iolo Hughes Meir'dd Telford 2015 00:30:36 JM  9=  Ryan Davis  Wrexham Telford 2022 00:30:50 SM  9=  Alun Vaughan  Eryri Manchester 2005 00:30:50 SM h

*GOG athlete Andy Brazier (*above) at the Conwy parkrun. GOGs ran well at Conwy parkrun and at the RunWales Loyalty 10k despite the weather... Report by Don Hale. Eight GOG Triathlon members ran in the Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning and claimed seven podium places including three age category wins. Josh Keogh ( NWRRC), claimed his 10th win at Conwy and his 5th consecutive victory, finishing in 17 minutes and 32 seconds, which was some 27-seconds ahead of teenage rival  James Smith  (Menai Track & Field), who was 2nd in 17.59, and  Osian Griffiths,  3rd in 18.35. For the Ladies  Anna Drinkwater  (Eryri Harriers) was the 1st female runner home in 7th place overall in 20.47, and  Ella Grundy  (Colwyn Bay) finished 2nd, and in 19th place overall in 22.49, with  Cheryl Frost  (NWRRC) 3rd in 23.09. Despite a freezing cold day and a waterlogged and puddle-filled course, all the GOG runners still recorded some excellent times especially considering the challenging conditions with  And

*Amie Bagnall (*above) who is about to cross a  snowy finish line at Telford, and (*below), some members of the North Wales team at the Telford 10k. North Wales athletes beat the snow and ice to record many new PBs at Telford 10k . Introduction by Don Hale.   My thanks to the North Wales Road Race team manager, Paul Brooks, who was out with his team in freezing temperatures for a couple of hours last Sunday at Telford. This is his personal report. Well done to Paul, to all the athletes, and especially to all the volunteers and supporters involved with this race in snowy and very icy conditions. Special report and photos by team manager Paul Brooks (*pictured above). *Rachel Shipley (*above) and pictured at the start area. These were our times from the Telford 10km:   Ryan Davis  (Wrexham) recorded 30:50 with a huge new PB. This ranks him at no 8 in the all-time NWRAC list and 9th in the senior men's list.  Luke Northall  (Wrexham) 33:19, 10 seconds faster than last year here.  Mart